KT Long Read: Giving to charity wins big in Britain

Music is magic. It interacts so deeply and at so many levels that ‘music therapy’ is now a distinct sub-discipline to deal with mental and physical health conditions. One of the most moving pieces of music emerged during the dreary days of Covid, in September 2020. Paul Harvey, 80, a Sussex-based former music teacher suffering from dementia, was given four notes by his son, Nick, to improvise: F natural, A, D, and B natural. It was Paul’s old party trick; when someone would give him four random notes, he would compose something on the spot on the piano. The difference this time was that Nick recorded Paul’s improvisation and posted it on Twitter. The 2:19-minute composition stirred so many emotions in people craving good news at the time that it soon went viral, even though Paul could not play it again because he could not remember it. One thing led to another: BBC and others featured the father-son duo on prime time, the BBC Philharmonic orchestra recorded it, the composition attracted £1 million charity donation from billionaire Tom Hunter, and it topped the charts — who gets to have a hit single at 80? — while the proceeds of continuing downloads go to two charity organisations, Alzheimer’s Society and Music for Dementia.

‘Four Notes — Paul’s Tune’ is the latest example of a cause striking a chord and Britons opening their purses generously. Call it the voluntary sector, third sector, not-for-profit, or community sector, charity organisations span so many areas of life that the sector is considered crucial to the functioning of Britain’s democratic system. As Harry Nathan, member of House of Lords, who led an inquiry into the charity sector in 1952, said, “Democracy could hardly function effectively without voluntary action”, while Oxford historian Frank Prochaska believes that “no country can lay a greater claim to a philanthropic tradition than Britain”. The tradition goes back to 597 AD with the foundation of The King’s School in Canterbury, the oldest charity organisation still in existence, symbolising the “longest run of education in British history”. Perhaps the oldest surviving school in the world, it educated novelist Somerset Maugham and World War II hero Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, among others, over the course of history. The school was founded by Saint Augustine, reflecting the fact that for many centuries charity was a religious activity led and run by monastic institutions and the church.

Millions raising billions

Today, the link with the church no longer defines the sector. According to the Charity Commission, it regulates activities of over 170,000 charity organisations in England and Wales (most do not receive government funds), run by over 700,000 trustees, who volunteer their time almost always for free. The charities employ over a million people in Britain and around the world, have a combined annual income of over £84.1 billion and £82.3 billion of charity spend. Besides, much charity work takes place at the local and community levels. Funds are also raised for charity work in various countries, including in south Asia, while a large number of individuals raise millions of pounds for various causes through online platforms, including on issues related to the pandemic; the annual charity income may well be closer to £100 billion.

Says Helen Stephenson, chief executive officer of Charity Commission: “Attempts have been made to quantify the value that charities bring. And this really matters. But I’m not sure it will ever be possible to reduce the role charities play in our society to a purely economic measure, to a fact or figure. Charities support us throughout our lives, cradle to grave, they curate much of what makes life worth living in the meantime. And they are a source of immense civic pride. They bring us together. Events since last March have only served to highlight how tightly charity is woven into the fabric of our communities and our national life. In the face of national crisis, many charities stepped up to the plate, and visibly so. Assisting our emergency services. Tackling poverty. Supporting those left lonely and vulnerable. Conversely, the work of some charities became conspicuous by its sudden absence. By the many and varied acts of charity that were no longer possible when restrictions were imposed. In other words, charities have shown the difference they make, both in what they have contributed during the pandemic, and the gap that was left when their work was interrupted.”

Charity organisations are central to everyday life in Britain, though most people may not always be aware of their interaction with them. News reports of financial and other irregularities in some organisations affect donations for a while, but, despite scepticism, over half of Britons support them by giving money regularly, while others donate goods to charity shops that sell them and use the income for various causes. The sector also sees a large number of individuals volunteering to work for various causes and at sites that include hospitals, heritage sites and museums. High streets have long featured charity shops. The successful flagship store of Oxfam on Broad Street in Oxford, which opened in the run-up to Christmas in 1947, and during World War II, several charities, including the British Red Cross, opened temporary stores. Some of the most common charity-run shops were those selling craft goods made by people with disabilities, which facilitated their employment and offered customers a way of showing their support. Several charity shops closed during Covid lockdowns, while individual efforts to raise funds were also hit when mass events such as marathons were cancelled, until recently, when they were allowed to resume under strict rules.

Says Radhika Iyer, London-based media professional, who ran her first half-marathon on October 10 to raise funds for a charity that tackles hunger and malnutrition among children in India and the UK: “I decided to raise funds to tackle an issue that occurs three times a day: hunger. Given the pandemic, access to fresh and warm food has become more distant for disadvantaged children and vulnerable adults. While raising funds for the Akshaya Patra Foundation UK, I realised that many — including friends and family — felt ‘tapped out’ after donating in a big way in 2020 for Covid research and Covid-related aid. The unique feature of ‘Gift Aid’ motivates several to donate as they see their donation grow by 25 per cent in the UK, when they donate to a registered UK charity. I would be happy to raise funds again for worthy causes. I ran a half marathon which was a real challenge for me. My learning through the exercise was that the ‘ask’ should be simple, direct and donors feel encouraged to contribute when reached out to personally instead of through generic social media announcements. A fundraiser must find a connection between the prospective contributor and the cause to achieve target or go beyond it.”

The ‘connection’ that Iyer refers to resonated with many across the country and abroad during three recent campaigns that raised millions of pounds: a 99-year-old war veteran who wanted to raise funds for the National Health Service (NHS) by his 100th birthday; a rugby legend who ran seven marathons in seven days to raise funds for the Motor Neurone Disease Association; and three fathers, whose three daughters committed suicide, walked 300 miles to raise awareness and funds for a suicide prevention charity.

The inspirational Captain Tom

Thomas Moore, better known as Captain Tom, was a British Army veteran who saw action in colonial India and the Burma campaign during World War II. As Britain hunkered down during the pandemic, the frail 99-year-old began to walk 100 lengths of his garden in Bedfordshire with the help of a walking frame on April 6, 2020 to raise £1,000 by his 100th birthday on April 30. He became such a sensation during the 24-day campaign that by the time the fund-raising window was closed, he had raised over £32 million for NHS Charities Together. It was the largest total raised by a single campaign on the JustGiving online platform. The air force and the army joined in his 100th birthday, while the local post office grappled with tens of thousands of greeting cards for him. In July 2020, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth at Windsor Castle as he became a national icon, featured across the media and popular culture, including a hit single, You’ll Never Walk Alone, by singer Michael Ball, inspiring many to follow his example and raise funds for other causes.

Captain Tom passed away on February 2 this year after testing positive for Covid, plunging the country in grief. The Union flag was lowered to half-mast in Downing Street and Prime Minister Boris Johnson called him a “hero in the truest sense of the word…not just a national inspiration but a beacon of hope for the world”, adding: “In the dark days of the Second World II, he fought for freedom and in the face of the country’s deepest post-war crisis he united us all, he cheered us all up, and he embodied the triumph of the human spirit.”

SEVEN marathons in SEVEN days

Kevin Sinfield, 41, is one of the most successful rugby players in

the history of Super League. He hit the headlines for a different reason in November 2020. He wanted to raise £77,777 to help his friend and former Leeds teammate Rob Burrow, who was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease (MND), and for the work of MND Association. The plan was to run seven marathons in seven days to reflect Burrow’s No 7 top for Leeds, but the target was reached on the first day itself. By the end of the seventh marathon, over £1.2 million had been raised. Sinfield’s effort was widely covered across the news media, raising awareness of the disease. The amount raised helps provide for Burrow and his family and also help find a cure for MND.

But that is not the end of the story. Sinfield, a defence coach for Leicester Tigers, has announced another run to help find a cure for MND: 101 miles between Leeds Rhinos’ stadium in Leeds and Leicester Tigers in Leicester. The challenge is scheduled for November 22 with an initial fund-raising target of £100,000. The route will be split into 7km sections and Sinfield must complete each one within 60 minutes as the next will start on the hour. He says: “Undoubtedly, this will the toughest challenge I have ever attempted but I know it will mean so much to so many people if we can reach our fundraising target. The response from the public last year was breathtaking…The more money we can raise, the more people we can help and ultimately find a cure for this cruel disease. I am sure there will be tough times as we pound the streets during the day and night, in cold November temperatures, but knowing the good we can all achieve together will be a huge motivation for everyone involved.”

THREE dads walking

Another campaign that struck a chord was three fathers walking 300 miles over 15 days to raise awareness about suicide among the young and to raise funds for Papyrus, a suicide prevention charity. Andy Airey, Mike Palmer and Tim Owen walked between their homes in Cumbria, Greater Manchester and Norfolk in October. Airey lost his daughter Sophie, 29, before Christmas in 2018; Palmer’s daughter Beth was 17 when she took her own life in March 2020; a few days after, Owen’s 18-year-old daughter Emily died. Each father set out to raise £3,000 but their story evoked such response that over £500,000 were quickly raised, including contributions from celebrities such as Daniel Craig and Nicole Kidman. Throughout their journey, there were emotional scenes as they met many people affected by suicide.

Airey said after the walk: “We’ve always got a hole in our lives that are our girls but it’s been fantastic to share some time with a lot of people and help some people along the way…Suicide is the biggest killer of those under 35 in the UK. We only learned this terrifying fact because our daughters took their own lives within the last 3 years. By raising awareness, we hope we can help prevent other families from being devastated by suicide.”

(Prasun is a journalist based in London. He tweets @PrasunSonwalkar)

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